


Romancing a Gem

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-05
Updated: 2014-09-05
Packaged: 2018-02-16 05:43:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2257983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven finds out about Pearl's crush on Garnet and is intent on setting her up on the perfect date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Romancing a Gem

**Author's Note:**

> i'm in too deep i love this ship too much god help me

If anyone found out her secret, she knew she would be done for. She’d have no option but to run far away and carry out her own missions somewhere else, just hoping she never crossed paths with her old team ever, _ever_ again. It would destroy her reputation as a calm, collected crystal gem who doesn’t let emotions get in her path—and she would certainly like to believe this was all true, but as fate would have it, she and her emotions were in an ongoing battle. And she was losing.

It would have been easier if Pearl didn’t see Garnet all the time. Sure, sometimes Garnet would go out on her solo missions and Pearl would have that time to try and regain her strength for when she came back, but every time she saw Garnet on the warp pad, she’d feel her knees go weak. Her heart would race and her face would feel hot, and everything would come back in a flood. She would realize just how much she really missed Garnet.

Maybe she should have been a little bit more careful when she decided that she would like to practice for the perfect circumstances in which she would talk to Garnet about her feelings. She probably could have gone to her room, but she thought practicing in the spot she pictured this perfect moment at would help her focus more. Pearl took a deep breath, enjoying the sweet scent of her favorite tree’s blossoming flowers as she went over her words again. It had to be something poetic and straight from the heart, letting Garnet know of her feelings in the most graceful manner possible—graceful and beautiful like the tree, she thought contentedly.

“Pearl!!”

Pearl stopped at the sound of Steven’s voice down at the bottom of the hill. She quickly posed in a more casual manner and watched Steven brave the treacherous hill, panting a little bit when he reached the top.

“Where’s Garnet? I need to show her this!” He said and pulled a flat rock from his pocket. “I told her I was gonna show her how to skip rocks, and I told her to wait until I found some really good rocks. Is she behind the tree?”

Pearl watched Steven peek around the tree before she realized the situation. “Uh—no, Garnet’s not here, Steven.”

“What? But I thought I heard you talking to her!” Steven complained.

“I um…no. I wasn’t talking to anyone.” Pearl averted her eyes, seeing Steven stuff the rock back into his pocket suspiciously from her peripheral vision.

“Are you playing a trick on me?” He asked after a long moment of consideration. “Garnet’s probably just hiding, right?”

“Steven—”

Steven started calling Garnet’s name as he circled around the tree and stared up into its branches. Pearl shot a worried glance towards the house and quickly clamped her hand over Steven’s mouth.

“Steven, someone might hear you!!” She whisper-shouted. Steven looked up at her curiously as she pulled her hand back and sighed. “Okay, I wasn’t really talking _to_ Garnet, I was just…um…speculating a situation in which I would speak to her about something.”

“Like what?”

Pearl half-laughed and looked away again. “Oh, nothing of any real importance. It was all just theoretical.”

“Well, what would it be about?”

Pearl sighed exhaustedly. “Steven, it’s not important. It’s…an adult thing.”

“Aww, c’mon! There’s no problem too big for Steven Universe! As long as it’s not taxes or anything math related, I think I can handle it.”

Before Pearl could do anything, she was stuck with Steven hopping around her as he urged her to tell him her problem. It was hardly a few seconds later before she caved and yelled for him to stop over his shouting.

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you,” Pearl sighed, and Steven stilled himself and watched her carefully as she took a deep breath. “I, um, have been…harboring certain… _feelings_ for Garnet for quite some time now. And, um, I was preparing for a situation in which I would…tell her so.”

Steven’s slightly perplexed face quickly turned into that excited look he got usually before missions. “Really?? Well, you should’ve said something! C’mon, I know _exactly_ how to help you.”

Pearl couldn’t help but admire his enthusiasm as he started dragging her along down the hill, but she knew whatever Steven had in mind would probably be some mixture of strange human customs that would be lost on her and Garnet. She kept trying to intervene as Steven went on and on about how he’s an expert, but he was at full steam—there was just no stopping him now.

“I’m about to take you to the best guy I know for this sort of thing. He has a couple things I think would help your case,” Steven continued as she was dragged towards the boardwalk. “He taught me all I know about romance!”

His hints left no speculation on who this “expert” would be. If Greg got dragged into all this, Pearl just knew she would be doomed to either a tragic fate of Garnet finding out about her feelings in the most embarrassing way possible or the ideas pushing her into eternal silence on this particular matter. It was no surprise Rose fell for him, sure—it was like he was crafted perfectly from just about any tacky stereotype one could imagine. But this only meant his methods of “wooing the ladies”, as he called it, would have absolutely no effect on Garnet except to confuse her.

Of course, they were at Greg’s trailer in no time. Steven was banging on the door and shouting for his father to come out for a while before he groggily opened the door.

“What’s going on, bud?” Greg asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “And what time is it?”

“It’s two in the afternoon,” Steven answered, and Greg cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Uh, I guess I…stayed up too late last night…” he muttered before finally noticing Pearl. “So what’s the problem?”

“Pearl needs to look _super cool_ ,” Steven answered with a grin. “Remember that old leather jacket you don’t wear anymore?”

“Steven, I don’t need a—” Pearl tried to intervene, but Steven shushed her.

“You’ll understand when it all comes together.” Steven insisted.

“I think that old thing might be a little bit big on her, but I’ll see if I can find it.” Greg commented as he turned to go back into his trailer. She heard a couple loud crashes before he finally stepped back out with the leather jacket. It had little metallic spikes on the shoulders with the word “STUD” on the back of it. “Here it is!”

Steven took it from Greg and jumped excitedly as he chanted for her to try it on. Pearl took it hesitantly and slipped it on, grimacing at the strange smell and texture.

“It’s a little greasy,” Pearl muttered as she pulled at it awkwardly.

“That’s just the Dad grease. It’s completely harmless.” Steven replied as Greg blushed a little in embarrassment. “Hmmm…you’re so tall, it doesn’t really fit right, but I guess it’ll have to do.”

“Steven, you do realize that I can create my own clothes, right?” Pearl questioned. “I could create one exactly like this that fits properly.”

“No way! It needs to be _authentic!_ ” Steven shouted. “This leather jacket has romanced at _least_ one fine lady in its time. It’s got experience!”

“I doubt the jacket itself has experience in the act of ‘romancing’ people,” Pearl pointed out.

“But it’s his _lucky_ jacket!” Steven argued. “Right, Dad?”

Greg glanced between Steven and Pearl before laughing at some distant memory. “Well, I _did_ wear it on my first date with Rose…”

“See? It’s got good luck!” Steven said excitedly. “Now, we need a cool hairstyle for you. I know just the guy to go to!”

“Steven, I—”

Before Pearl could say anything else, he was dragging her further along the boardwalk without a chance for her to take off the greasy jacket. Pearl couldn’t imagine what other horrors were about to be bestowed upon her when she was pulled unwillingly into the Big Donut.

“Hey Lars, my main man!” Steven called as he entered. The boy at the counter looked up from his phone and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t call me that,” he said bitterly before shoving the phone into his pocket.

“What, I shouldn’t call you Lars…?”

A quiet irritated groan came from Lars’ throat before he said anything else. “What kind of donut do you want?”

“Oh, I’m not here for donuts today.” Steven said. “I’m here on account of your fashion sense.”

Pearl could hear a muffled snort from the break room as Lars leaned his head in his hand. “Well, I’m glad you’re so observant, Steven, but I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do for you. There are some things I just can’t help.”

“Not _me,_ ” Steven said as he pointed back to Pearl, “I mean her! I just need some suggestions for her hair. Your hair’s cool, so I figured you could help!”

“Uhh, why?” Lars questioned, looking up at Pearl. “And I’ve been meaning to ask—is your hair, like, permanently stuck like that, or do you use some kinda weird magic stuff, or do you use gel…?”

“I—”

“I’m getting Pearl ready for an awesometastic rad date and she needs to look as cool as possible!” Steven interrupted.

“Would that explain that weird leather jacket?” Lars asked dully, and Pearl couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment.

“It’s not weird, it’s lucky!” Steven argued. “Now can you help me with her hair? Pleeeaaase?”

“Well, I’m actually swamped right now with donut responsibilities.” Lars said, waving his hand vaguely towards the cash register. “I’d _like_ to help, but I just can’t.”

“C’mon, Lars, the place is empty!” Steven rested his arms and chin on the counter, causing Lars to flinch away irritably. “She needs to look really cool to impress her date! The fate of the world depends on it!”

“Ugh, just ask Sadie, she’s just watching TV in the break room, anyway.” Lars grumbled, and out of the corner of Pearl’s eye, she could see someone shifting behind the display of donuts.

“But it’s Canine Court!” The girl behind the donut display complained. “You know this takes top priority!”

“If you were already eavesdropping, then you can help Steven with his weird date preparation stuff!” Lars called back.

The door to the break room opened and the girl stepped out. “Okay, fine. I’ve been kind of weirded out about their hair, anyway, so I guess this would solve a lot of mysteries.”

Pearl was led to the break room and directed to sit in one of the chairs by the table. Sadie rubbed at her chin contemplatively before prodding at Pearl’s hair with a plastic spoon. Pearl couldn’t help but pinch the top of her nose in response.

“So…what do you even do with your hair?” Sadie asked tentatively. “Is it just this way…naturally?”

“I like it this way,” Pearl replied pleadingly. “I don’t need it to be changed in any way!”

“C’mon, Pearl, it’ll be cool!” Steven insisted. “What if you like, combed it all _forward_ instead of _backward?_ ”

“Ooh, that could look cool,” Sadie commented with a nod. “It’d go with the leather jacket look. I think.”

Pearl couldn’t possibly count on two hands how many times her hair had been tugged painfully in the process of getting it to go the way they wanted it to, but eventually they got the look they were aiming for and the back of Pearl’s head felt somewhat vulnerable due all her hair being pulled forward. When they gave her a mirror, she did have to admit that they did a good job on making her hair look decent in a completely different style, but it was nothing she would ever think of wearing on a regular basis. Or ever.

“It, uh, it looks nice, but—” Pearl tried to say, but Steven was already planning out his next stop.

“Hmm…next, you’ll need a gift for her! Like chocolates!” Steven said, but frowned a second later. “Wait, only Amethyst likes to eat. Then…how about…flowers? That’s a traditional approach!”

“So who is Pearl even going on a date with?” Sadie asked, but her question was brushed off as Steven took hold of Pearl’s hand again and began dragging her along.

“Thanks for the help, Sadie!” He called as he marched on out of the store.

Their next stop was a nice little floral store. Steven hovered over each choice of bouquet, quietly muttering to himself about their options. Finally, he picked a bouquet of lisanthuses, cymbidium orchids, heliconias and gladioluses, all in different shades of pink.

“What do you think of this one?” Steven asked, holding it up for Pearl to see. “It smells nice, too!”

“Those _are_ very nice,” Pearl acknowledged, and again, before she could say anything else, Steven was at the counter paying for them.

Next, Steven was going on about meeting up with Garnet specifically while Pearl was looking cool by leaning against a wall or the counter or something, and then Garnet would be interested by how cool she looked and they would talk and Pearl would give the flowers to Garnet and they would get together and be happy forever, etc. Pearl could hardly stand the thought of approaching Garnet while in her current state. She would certainly say something weird and Garnet would be confused and there would be an air of awkwardness around them for the rest of their lives, Pearl thought worriedly.

When Pearl was pulled back into the house, much to her dismay, Amethyst was lounging on the couch with a bag of chips as they walked in. She took one look at Pearl and burst out into laughter, and Steven shot her a frustrated glare.

“Amethyst, don’t laugh at her! She has to look super cool!” Steven yelled over her laughing, which only brought more hysterics from her and a blush of embarrassment from Pearl.

“You look like a _dork,_ ” Amethyst managed through her laughing. “What’s with your hair?”

“Sadie and I did it,” Steven answered somewhat dejectedly. “So she doesn’t look cool?”

“Not by a longshot, dude!” Amethyst replied. “It’s gonna take more than that to make Pearl look cool. What’s with all this, anyway?”

“I’m getting Pearl ready for a date with Garn—”

Pearl slapped her hand over Steven’s mouth and shushed him loudly. “Nothing, nothing!! Don’t listen to Steven.”

Amethyst stared at Pearl for a good long minute before she snorted and rolled off the couch from her laughter. Pearl felt her face go completely hot as she pulled her hair back into its normal style.

“Pearl, c’mon, don’t listen to Amethyst!” Steven whined. “You look awesome!”

“Steven, I don’t need _any_ of this!” Pearl snapped, pulling the jacket off of her shoulders. “If I was ever going to tell Garnet anything, it wouldn’t be in such an embarrassing way!!”

Steven stopped and frowned up at Pearl. Before Pearl could even think to apologize, he was running out the door and down the stairs to the beach.

“Wow, good going, Pearl,” Amethyst commented. Pearl chose to ignore her and ran after him.

“Steven, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that!” She called after him and jumped from the top of the stairs down to the ground to catch up. “I’m just nervous!”

Steven looked back at her and wiped at his face. “Really?”

“Yes!” Pearl insisted. “I really appreciate all your help. I just…it’s been such a long time, and I’ve worried about this for years. Honestly, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to saying anything to Garnet.”

“Well, I’m sorry too,” Steven muttered sheepishly. “I guess your idea of romantic and mine don’t really match up. You don’t have to wear that jacket and stuff. Oh, but I am gonna need the jacket back. Dad would be pretty sad if he lost it.”

“That will be no problem.” Pearl laughed half-heartedly. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“It’s okay, I get it.” Steven replied. “Admittedly, I shouldn’t really be the one to talk. I’ve never really been on a date before! I just got excited.”

“Hey Peeeaaaarrrrrrllllllll, your girlfriend’s gonna be back soon!” Amethyst yelled from the house.

Pearl scowled and whirled around. “Amethyst, that is no way to behave!”

“It’s alright if you don’t want to say anything. I don’t expect you to.” Steven said. “You can wait until you’re ready.”

“Well, I suppose if Amethyst already knows, there’s no point in trying to hide it anymore.” Pearl sighed.

Steven laughed a little bit. “Uh, sorry about that.”

As Amethyst said, it wasn’t long before Garnet returned on the warp pad in the usual flash of light. With a graceful gesture, she warped an artifact away and gave Steven’s head a pat when he ran up to show her his rocks.

“Hey Garnet, I can teach you how to skip stones now!” Steven said as he held up a handful of flat rocks. “Are you busy?”

“Not for now,” she replied, and Steven grinned excitedly.

“But doesn’t Pearl have something to saaaaayyyy first?” Amethyst questioned from the couch and waggled her eyebrows.

“Amethyst!” Pearl shouted as her face flushed yet again.

“What? I’m just trying to help!” Amethyst shouted back.

When Pearl noticed Garnet’s attention was drawn to her, she cleared her throat and brushed at her hair awkwardly.

“Well, I suppose I _do_ have something to tell you,” Pearl muttered quietly. “Could we go…somewhere private?”

Steven got that excited look on his face again and Amethyst just kept waggling her eyebrows as Garnet followed Pearl out of the house. Once Garnet was out, Pearl excused herself to quickly retrieve the bouquet and held it behind her back as they walked towards Pearl’s favorite tree. Her heart and mind raced like their lives depended on it as they reached the tree, and Pearl slowly turned to face Garnet.

“Um, well, I uh…” Pearl stammered, holding out the flowers to Garnet. “Steven helped me pick these out for you.”

“Thanks.” Garnet said as she accepted the flowers. After a brief silence, Pearl cleared her throat again.

“Well, um—for a while now, I’ve um…I’ve…l-loved…you.” Pearl finally managed to say, her whole face probably completely blue by now. Slowly, she met Garnet’s gaze and waited for a response.

“I know.”

Pearl felt a rock drop in her stomach. “You _did?_ ”

“Yeah. I’ve been waiting for you to say something.” Garnet replied.

“O-…oh. For how long?”

Garnet shrugged. “A while.”

“…Oh…”

“It’s alright.” Garnet went on. “I love you, too.”

It was horribly embarrassing, but Pearl couldn’t help but spin and giggle almost maniacally after that last sentence. Her celebration was interrupted by excited cheering from nearby, and who was undeniably Amethyst shouting for them to smooch. Pearl’s giggling ceased as she looked in Steven and Amethyst’s general direction with a frown.

“I couldn’t expect them to leave us alone.” Garnet commented.

“I suppose I should have expected that too,” Pearl muttered and glanced up at Garnet. “Um. I uh, I think there’s…important business for me to tend to…elsewhere.”

“Alright.” Garnet said and bent over to peck Pearl on the cheek. “See you later.”

Pearl had to suppress her excitement and say goodbye like a normal person before running off to giggle to her heart’s content.


End file.
